FOCUSES www.facebook.

com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS LIBERAL THEORY IN IR

Liberal Theory in IR: Basic Assumptions and Leading Theorists

Early Liberalism (1920-late 1930s)

Basic Assumptions
• Nation-states are the main actors in IR.
• Cooperation among nation-states is essential for a peaceful world order.
• Nation-states that valued individual liberty and freedom in their domestic political systems can best
ensure international peace.
•ERelations
D U C A T Iamong
O N nations would help avoid war and establish peace in the world.

Early Liberal Theorists: N. Angell, W. Wilson. Also known as 'Utopian Liberalism', early
liberalism lost grounds to neo-realism in the late 1930s.
Post-Second World War Liberalism (1945–1970s)
Basic Assumptions
• Nation-states are not the only actors in IR; individuals, groups, societal organizations are also
important actors.
• Technological advancement and economic interests bind the states in a complex web of
interdependence. This interdependence promotes a cooperative international order.
• International institutions like the UNO, WTO, NATO and EU help to promote international
cooperation and strengthen efforts for peace.
• Democracy and competitive economy can ensure international peace.
• Democratic states seek peaceful resolution of conflicts, and do not fight with each other.
• Competitive market economy keeps away security fears of nation-states, because commercial
interests become the primary concern of states.

Post-Second World War Liberal Theorists: A. J. P. Taylor, D. Mitrany, E. Haas, R.

Keohane, J. Nye, V. Rittberger, O. R. Young, M. Doyle, B. M. Russett.
Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications
Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS NEO- LIBERAL THEORY IN IR

Neo-liberal Theory in IR: Basic Assumptions and Leading Theorists

Basic Assumptions

s
• Economic liberalism is marked by free trade and globalization.

r
• Minimum state intervention in economic life-discarding of the Keynesian

i
model.

a
• Failure of Laissez faire theory to remove state control on economic life.

ff
EDUCATION
• Rollback of the 'welfare' and 'protectionist' state as it breeds inefficiency and

A
corruption.
• Free trade can ensure domestic and international peace and security because

f
states are engaged in the economic development process, and shy away from

e
i
war.

r
• Free trade can best thrive in a democratic political system as it secures human

B
rights and basic freedoms of people.

e
• Disintegration of Soviet Union and the 'socialist bloc' marked the triumph of
free market economy.

Th
• In the twenty-first century, cooperation and interdependence of states are
possible through globalization.

Leading Theorists: C. B. Macpherson, T. Friedman, J. Rawls, F. Fukuyama, K.

Ohmae.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS PLURALIST THEORY IN IR

Pluralist Theory in IR: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features:

s
• Pluralism is a branch of liberal theory in IR.

ir
• Pluralism actually thrives on sociological, institutional and interdependence

a
liberalism.
•EAccording

ff
to pluralism, the state is not the monopoly actor in IR.
DUCATION

A
• Non-state actors like individuals, groups, institutions, associations and
organizations are also significant actors in IR.

ef
• International cooperation, peace and harmony require the involvement of

i
non-state actors along with nation-states.

Br
• IR is not only government-to-government interactions; it is also interactions
among societies and non-state actors.

e
• MNCs and NGOs play crucial roles in international affairs today.

h
• A dependent world is the product of a close connection between state- and

T
non-state actors.

Leading Theorists: R. Little, D. Nicholls, O. R.Young, A. Underdal, R.

Rosecrance, S. Hoffmann

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF SIX PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL REALISM
AFFAIRS
AS ADVOCATED BY MORGENTHAU

Six Principles of Political Realism as Advocated by Morgenthau

1. The law of politics is rooted in human nature which is self-seeking, self-

s
interested and power-loving.

ir
2. Politics is an autonomous sphere of activity, and does not depend on

fa
economics. The concepts of ‘interest’ and ‘power’ can make politics

f
EDUCATION
independent of other disciplines.

f A
3. A state’s interests are not fixed; they are changeable depending on time and

e
space. This reality must be recognized in international politics.

ri
4. Ethics in international politics is political or situational ethics, and therefore

B
sharply opposed to private morality.

he
5. Political realism believes that aspirations of a particular state cannot become

T
the governing law of the universe.

6. Statecraft is a sober and uninspiring activity that involves a profound

awareness of human limitations. Human nature as it is should be considered in
international politics, rather than the human nature as it should be.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS REALIST THEORY IN IR

Realist Theory in IR: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Classical Realism
Basic Assumptions

s
• Classical realists were of the opinion that people lived in a condition of total insecurity and lawlessness. This

r
situation was altered by a powerful sovereign state with a strong government.

i
• The ruler needs to be powerful to resolve conflicts in politics. Classical realists empha�sized the primary value of

a
power in statecraft.

f
Leading Theorists: Thucydides, Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes.

f
EDUCATION
Neo-classical Realism
Basic Assumptions

A
• Conflicts between states were inevitable in international politics because there was no international regulatory authority to curb

f
conflicts and wars.

e
• The law of politics is rooted in human nature which is self-seeking, self-interested and power-loving.

i
• The concept of ‘interest defined in terms of power’ makes politics autonomous because the concept of ‘power’ can help to

r
analyse all kinds of politics adequately.
• Ethics in international politics is political or situational ethics, and therefore sharply opposed to private morality.

B
• Aspirations of a particular state cannot become the governing law of the universe.
• Statecraft is a sober and uninspiring activity that involves a profound awareness of human limitations.

e
Leading Theorists: E. H. Carr, H. J. Morgenthau.
Neo-realism

h
Basic Assumptions

T
• In the contemporary world, the ‘threat’ of war is more fearsome than actual war.
• For the neo-realists, the structure of the system and its relative distribution of power are the focal points of analysis.
• States which are more ‘capable’ than others would control international politics.
• Neo-realists are sceptical about the impact of globalization throughout the world.
• The neo-liberal claim that economic interdependence of the world has made the nation.-state a minor player in
international affairs is not tenable.
• The neo-liberal claim that only free market economy can achieve sustained growth is not true.
• Despite anti-statism, there is no serious rival to challenge and replace the state in international relations.
Leading Theorists: K. Waltz, T. Schelling, S. Krasner, R. Gilpin, J. Mearsheimer.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS MARXIST THEORY OF IR

Marxist Theory of IR: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features:

s
• Marxist theory of IR is based on some of the main principles of Marxism, such as dialectical materialism,

ir
historical materialism, and class struggle.
• The economically dominant class in almost every society cornered social and political power and

a
exploited the poor people.

f
•EClass
D U Cdivision
A T I O Nand exploitation of one class by another reached its peak in the capitalist society.

f
• Excess production and profit motive led to extreme exploitation of the proletariat in the capitalist society.

A
• Excess production also generates conflicts—among the capitalists for new outlets to sell the produced
goods—and crises in advanced capitalism.

f
• The First World War was an example of such conflicts. Search for new outlets also resulted in

e
imperialism.

i
• Marxist views on imperialism served as a critique of the liberal theory in IR that late capitalism brings in

r
a cooperative and peaceful world order based on free-trade interdependence among states. Views on
imperialism also strengthen Marx’s original position that advanced capitalism would face internal crises.

B
• Neo-Marxists believe ‘peripheral’ societies remain underdeveloped due to common class interests of the
capitalists in ‘core’ and ‘peripheral’ societies. Globalization could not generate equitable economic development

e
for all people.

h
• Present international relations are dominated by capitalists across the world, and need to be changed.
• With the establishment of class-less socialist societies in every part of the world, new international

T
relations based on equality of all people could be built.
• For bringing about such changes in IR, the proletariat must rise above national identities and national interests,
because they have no state to serve their causes.

Leading Theorists: Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zhe
Dong, Nikolai Bukharin, Leon Trotsky, Antonio Gramsci.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS WORLD SYSTEM THEORY

World System Theory: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features:

s
• Influenced by Marxism and its idea of accumulation of wealth.

ir
• Class divisions have assumed a regional character in the postcolonial world.

a
• The world is divided into ‘core’ and ‘periphery’ regions (in terms of wealth

ff
accumulation),
EDUCATION
a system in which the rich capitalist core regions dominate over
the poor periphery, mainly the third world regions.

terms of wealth accumulation.

f A
• Semi-periphery is not as advanced as the core, but ahead of the periphery in

ie
• There may be core (centre) and periphery within the ‘core’ and ‘periphery’

r
regions; the new class struggle would involve the core and the periphery.

B
• Dependency theory, which comes closer to WST, suggests that due to

e
historical reasons, the third world remains dependent on external foreign

h
capital.

T
• ‘Enclave Economy’ and national capitalists are responsible for
underdevelopment in the third world region.

Leading Theorists: I. Wallerstein, A. G. Frank, S. Amin, F. H. Cardoso, E. Faletto (Dependency

Theory).

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS GAME THEORY

Game Theory: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features:

s
• The theory is useful in analysing situations of conflict, competition and cooperation.

ir
• Since games often resemble real situations—especially competitive or cooperative

a
situations—they can suggest strategies or ways for dealing with such circumstances.

f
•EThe
D U Ctheory
A T I O Nis useful for IR too, because conflict, competition and cooperation among

f
nation-states form important areas of discussion in the discipline.

A
• The theory usually supports a decision-making approach based on the assumption of

f
rationality of players in a situation of competition. Each player tries to maximize gains

e
or minimize losses under conditions of uncertainty. During the Cold War, both the US

i
and the USSR played such a game. They both wanted to maximize their gains, or at

r
best, tried to minimize their losses, under conditions of uncertainty.

B
• The theory suggests several types of games: two-person zero-sum game; two-person

e
non-zero or variable sum (chicken) game; the n-person game which includes more
than two actors or sides, etc. IR today resembles, to some extent, the n-person game.

Th
• ‘Prisoner’s dilemma’ is one of the important games propagated by the theory. It
illustrates the paradoxical nature of interaction between two suspicious participants
with opposing interests.
• The theory has five major concepts: players, strategies, rules, outcome and pay-off.

Leading Theorists: J. V. Neumann, O. Morgenstern, A. Rapoport, M. Shubik, J. Nash.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications
Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS DECISION-MAKING THEORY

Decision-making Theory: Basic Assumptions and Leading Theorists

Basic Assumptions

s
• Political actions follow ways which the decision-makers as ‘actors’ want them to

ir
follow.

a
• ‘How’ and ‘why’ of a political action, and the reasons behind it, are the preferred

f
areas
E D U Cof
A Tstudy
I O N in decision-making theory.

f
• This theory in IR mainly focuses on foreign policy decisions of countries and the

A
setting in which these decisions are taken.

f
• This setting or background has two sides: internal and external.

e
• This theory helps us to identify important structures in the political system of a

i
nation where decisions are made.

r
• There may be formal or informal, and known or not-so-known, structures where

B
decisions are formulated.

e
• Based on decisions and actions, there are three foundations of decision-making: (1)
environmental factors; (2) psychological factors; and (3) real actors behind decision-
making.

Th
• There are three important approaches to the decision-making theory: (1) rational
goals-ends model; (2) quagmire model; and (3) risk analysis model.

Leading Theorists: R. Snyder, H. W. Bruck, B. Sapin, H. Sprout and M. Sprout, B.

Cohen, A. George and J. George, R. Hilsman, J. Robinson.
Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications
Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS SYSTEM THEORY IN IR

Systems Theory in IR: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features

s
• The theory owes its origin to biology, particularly to the writings of Ludwig Von Bertallanfy.

ir
• Sytems theory in IR was first introduced in the middle of the 1950s by a group of American
scholars.

fa
• A system is a set of elements standing in interaction; in IR, nation-states are the ‘elements’

f
EDUCATION
engaged in interactions.
• A system consists of three things: identifiable elements, relationship among elements and clear

A
notion of boundary.

f
• A system has sub-systems. In the international system, regional organizations—the ASEAN,

e
the SAARC, for example—form one type of sub-systems.

i
• Proponents of systems theory in IR believe that a scientific study of international relations is

r
possible if the interactions among nation-states and their levels of interdependence can be

B
satisfactorily analysed.
• For Morton Kaplan, interaction and interdependence among states could be analysed in terms

e
of six models of international system: (1) balance of power system; (2) loose bipolar system; (3)

h
tight bipolar system; (4) universal actor system; (5) hierarchical international system; and (6) unit

T
veto system.
• C. W. Manning supports the idea of the international system resting on nation-states, whereas
scholars like Kenneth Boulding and John Herz feel that the nation-state itself is facing many
crises to remain major ‘elements’ of the system.

Leading Theorists: M. Kaplan, C. W. Manning, K. Boulding, H. Guetzkow.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications
Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS COMMUNICATION THEORY

Communication Theory: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features

s
• The theory is based on cybernetics.

ir
• It holds that similarities exist among electronic signals, human nerve cells and

a
governmental functions. They are all goal-oriented systems which share and

ff
transmit
EDUCATION
information.
• The theory believes that modern politics, domestic or international, is not

f A
rooted in power, as the realists suggest, but in 'steering'.
• Cybernetics is applicable to any system which possesses adequate

ie
organization, communication and control; and where messages are frequently

r
transfered, retrieved, stored and responded.

B
• Communication and control (cybernetics) is very important in international

e
politics.

h
• The theory identifies several mechanisms through which the flow of

T
communication takes place: (1) information; (2) entropy: (3) load; (4) lag: (5)
distortion; (6) gain; (7) lead; and (8) feedback.
• It analyses issues in IR through these mechanisms of communication.

Leading Theorists: N. Weiner, K. Deutsch, J. Burton.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications
Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS POSTMODERNISM IN IR

Postmodernism in IR: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features

s
• Postmodernism in IR emerged in the 1980s, although postmodernism as a social theory originated

ir
in the early 1950s in France when a group of scholars questioned existentialism, prevalent in
Europe at that time.

fa
• The term ‘postmodernism’ was never used by any thinker, but became acceptable due to its

f
EDUCATION
critique of modernity.
• Postmodernism challenged the notion that knowledge is eternal and leads to progress of the

A
world; it also rejected the idea that there can be anything called objective truth.

f
• According to it, knowledge is intimately linked to power; no knowledge is impartial.

e
• Postmodernism believes in ‘deconstruction’, a process to challenge and unsettle accepted ideas;

i
and to give fresh insights into stable ideas.

r
• It challenged accepted theories in IR, such as liberalism and realism, and held that these theories

B
were biased by the personal preferences of their protagonists.
• It challenged the neo-realist view that everlasting anarchy in IR is an objective truth. It holds that

e
this view too is not impartial or neutral as it is prejudiced by the beliefs of neo-realist thinkers.

h
• It challenged the liberal view that the idea of state sovereignty is an important subjective category

T
of IR; new forms of political community and identity can emerge beyond the notion of sovereign
states.
• Democracy, sovereign state and globalization, as advanced by modernists, are not compatible
with one another, and these are inadequate to analyse contemporary IR.

Leading Theorists: R. Ashley, J. Edkins, C. Weber, R. Walker, W. Connolly, D. Campbell.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivism: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features

s
• Originated in the eighteenth century; but often considered as a new theory because ibt was

ir
presented with renewed vigour after the end of the Cold War by a group of Western scholars.

a
• Early constructivism believed that our history and social world were created by human ideas

f
and conceptions.

f
EDUCATION
• Contemporary constructivism revived this argument after the Cold War, and holds the view

A
that society, the world and human relations are not just natural or physical; they are shaped by
human thoughts, ideas and beliefs.

f
• Contradicts the positivist ‘scientific material’ view of IR; prefers an ideational view of IR.

ie
• All human relations including international relations are made through conscious human

r
efforts, because international politics and economics are not governed by natural laws; these

B
are controlled by man-made laws.
• Every material manifestation in IR bears meaning given to it by human beings.

e
• According to Wendt, social structures emerge through human ideas.

h
• Human relations, including international relations, depend on inter-subjective beliefs which

T
shape different kinds of human relations.
• Cooperation or conflicts in IR are not due to material considerations; these are reflected
through agreements or disagreements of human minds.
• Ideas precede matter in international relations.

Leading Theorists: A. Wendt, N. Onuf, P. Katzenstein, F. Kratochwil.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications
Book by Aneek Chatterjee
 FOCUSES www.facebook.com/thebriefaffairs

THE
BRIEF
AFFAIRS FEMINISM IN IR

Feminism in IR: Basic Features and Leading Theorists

Basic Features

s
• Feminism in international relations points out that the history and structure of, and knowledge

ir
about, IR are all gendered.
• Postmodern feminists have focused more on gender, or on how divisions between the

fa
masculine and the feminine constitute a hierarchy of power by which the former subordinates

f
EDUCATION
the latter.
• Major issues in IR, such as war, peace, security, power cooperation, diplomacy, foreign policy,

A
propaganda and military reflected a masculine way of thinking.

f
• The realist concern for security tries to seek protection from an outside threat with a view to

e
ensure protection of a domestic jurisdiction that fixes continuous subordination of women.

i
• Feminist IR theorists argue that although wars have been largely caused and fought by men,

r
women form the majority of civil casualties.

B
• Cynthia Enloe rephrased the radical feminist slogan to ‘personal is political, and international’.
• Feminist scholars of international relations have shown how the formation of the state and the

e
'international society’ of states have helped the construction of gender differences through

h
divisions such as private/public, state society and domestic international.

T
• Globalization has not been able to alter the plight of women.
• Gender-sensitive analysis of international politics may bring the issue of gender inequality into
focus.

Leading Theorists: C. Enloe, C. Sylvester, V. S. Peterson, A. S. Runyan, G. Standing, S. Sassen,

J. Pettman, J. True.

Source: International Relations Today: Concepts and Applications

Book by Aneek Chatterjee